A new destiny
by NoNeedForANickname
Summary: Naruto is thrown out of the village, his dream shattered beyond repair. Tsunade and Jiraiya abandon the Leaf to follow him, and a certain someone tags along. Rated M so I can write what I want.
1. Prologue

* * *

**DISOWNER: I don't claim Naruto.**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Prologue**

* * *

"So, what now?"

The Hokage sighed. "He's already gone. Not surprising, I guess, after _that_  
'welcome'. You've seen him when he came back, haven't you? You must have  
noticed. The electric burns on his chest, and the way his jacket was torn?  
Doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened. And they have the _audacity_  
to claim he drove the Uchiha away and killed him on purpose! He's probably  
hurting the most from this! And they _dare_ place that _traitor_ above him. Hell,  
they'd probably even take Itachi back, just to get their hands on a precious  
_Uchiha!_"

Tsunade spat those words, then calmed down and continued in a somber tone, "I  
can't do this anymore, Jiraiya. I'm in office for only two weeks, and I hate  
this village more than ever. Ironic, isn't it? He brings back their Hokage,  
and the first thing they do is exile her little brother."

A heavy silence enveloped the room, and lingered for a few minutes. Finally,  
Jiraiya spoke, a small, sad smile forming on his face: "I can't let my idiot  
apprentice wing it alone, you know. Akatsuki is still after him, and I doubt  
Orochimaru will take just take this sitting down. You know how vengeful he  
becomes when he doesn't get his way. I have an idea where Naruto may go, so  
I'm gone first thing tomorrow." He paused. "I've known you for a long time,  
Tsunade. You said it yourself, he's your little brother, and I can see he's  
more important than anything to you. Come with me."

More silence.

It was not that Tsunade needed time to make up her mind. Her mind was made up  
the moment she saw Haruno Sakura, of all people, throw the first punch. It  
was, in a way, unerstandable, but she would gladly rip her apart even now,  
were it not for the simple fact that Naruto, for whatever reason, still cared  
about her then. But it was one thing to make the decision in her mind, and  
another to say it out loud. To abandon, and betray one's home village, that  
she could not take lightly. But Konoha was not her home anymore, was it? It  
was Naruto who brought her back, and Naruto was the only thing that held her  
here. Now that he was gone...

She sighed again. "I will. Just...we can't let them off so easily, can we?  
They deserve punishment, if only a token gesture."

Jiraiya smirked, an odd sight. "Yeah. And I have just the plan. Hanging around  
the greatest prankster since Arashi has some useful side effects, it seems.  
I'll go make preparations in the library, and...some other places. Can I trust  
you to take care of the scrolls in your office?" Tsunade nodded. "Alright.  
We'll meet three days from now at dawn, there's a dango shop two miles from  
the north gate. And bring his family scrolls, would you? He deserves the  
truth, no matter how painful it will be. Or what we know of it, at least."

"Fine. I'll prepare things here, and then check up on _her_. Who knows,  
after last night, she may want to come as well. She's probably the only person  
we can trust with this in this entire kami-forsaken village, and I think  
Naruto needs a friend his age. I'll see you tomorrow, dismissed."

After Jiraiya had gone, Tsunade cradled her head in her hands. Half a week  
from now, she would be an S-Rank missing-nin like her little brother, and kami  
help all who would dare to come after him.

* * *

It had been an hour since she awoke, tears still flowing freely down her  
cheeks. How could this happen? How could people be so...so...blind? The hero  
who saved them during the sound invasion, the boy who saved the village again  
when he brought back Tsunade-sama, how was it even possible that they would  
_still_ hate him? How could they even hate him in the first place?

A knock on the door brought her back to reality.

"Y-yes?"

The door opened to reveal...

"Tsu-tsunade-sama..."

"How are you today, Hinata-san? Let me check up on your injuries."

The diagnosis didn't take long. Hinata's injuries had been minor, thanks to  
a few Hyuuga branch house members that came to her aid, and, albeit  
grudgingly, dispelt the mob that had gathered to lynch the 'demon brat'.

"Well, physically, you're fine. But...I can see you're upset. No wonder there,  
I guess...you care about him, don't you? It's written all over your face."

Hinata blushed bright-red. Her voice forsaking her, all she managed was a  
small nod, before she stared at her knees again.

Tsunade smiled inwardly. It was obvious how the Hyuuga heiress felt about  
Naruto, even to one who had never indulged in such things herself. She knew  
right then that Hinata would never do anything that posed only a slight  
possible threat to Naruto, and made up her mind to take her along, if she so  
desired. With a few handseals, she erected a sound barrier around them. In a  
serious voice, she addressed the girl.

"Hinata, I feel like you're the only person I can trust with this, save those  
who are already involved. The council has declared Naruto an S-Rank  
missing-nin yesterday night."

Hinata was shocked. 'How...why...S-Rank? What..."

The Hokage laid a hand on her shoulder. "Easy, girl. Easy. You and I both know  
he does not deserve it, and that it doesn't make any sense, since the same  
council exiled him earlier that day. But...seeing what I'm about to do, I  
can't change that. Tell me, how far would you go to help him?"

Hinata took a minute to regain her voice, flushed even deeper than before, and  
answered meekly: "I...th-there's nothing...I-I would d-do a-anything. H-He's  
a he-hero a-and..."

Hinata fell silent, but Tsunade knew what she wanted to say. "Good. Forgive  
me, but I had to be certain. I have a request to make. I will stress this is  
not an order, but if you decline, I beg you to not reveal this to anyone, for  
his sake. Can I trust you with that?"

"Y-yes, Hokage-sama. I-I w-wouldn't harm Na-Naruto-kun. I-I couldn..."

"Good. Jiraiya and I are going to leave Konoha tomorrow, and search for him.  
The two of us will probably be able to protect him, until he is strong enough  
to do so himself, but...he will need a friend." She took a deep breath.  
"Hinata, I'd like you to come with us. Right now, you are the only person I  
trust enough to even propose this. Be aware, if you come along, you'll be  
branded a missing-nin and hun-"

"When do we leave?"

Tsunade smiled.


	2. Fateful encounters

* * *

**DISOWNER: I don't claim Naruto.**

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Fateful Encounters**

* * *

Naruto had looked back. As much as he now wished he hadn't, he had. Despite  
all its shortcomings, and despite the cruelties he had endured there,  
cruelties he had only recently learned were not normal, he still called Konoha  
his home. He would have to change that, and fast. And he would have to find a  
new dream, preferrably one that might come true this time. Disrespect he could  
handle. Loneliness, while painful, he was used to. But nothing could prepare  
him for the pain of a shattered dream. He vowed not to repeat that mistake.  
Ever.

Had his former peers seen him now, they would have had the impression that a  
part of the blond had died, and that he still grieved for it. In a way this  
was true, he supposed. Naruto was by no standards a master of emotional  
disguise, but there was one mask he had honed to the point where it almost  
took a life of its own. Naruto had always tried to _be_ the cheerful loudmouth  
that got everyone's attention, and that most people found hard to take  
serious, let alone hate, once they got to know him. But alas, that mask now  
lay shattered at the gates of his home village, where he had discarded it.  
After all, what good is a mask if there is noone to see you wear it?

'Sasuke...'

Two days after he was, quite literally, thrown out of Konoha, he arrived at a  
small town near the border of Grass Country. He had thought about visiting  
Tazuna-san in Wave Country, but considering that Wave Country did not have a  
hidden village of its own, combined with the close proximity to the Country of  
Rice Fields, where the Hidden Sound lay, he dismissed that idea. Hence, he was  
now on his way to the one non-leaf shinobi whose friendship he had gained,  
during the chuunin exam and the mission four days prior - Gaara of the  
Desert in Suna. He did not exactly know the status Gaara held there, but he  
decided to burn that particular bridge once he crossed it. If Suna failed, he  
could still make his way to the Wave.

Right now, however, he had different things to think about, like how he would  
make his way through Grass Country without fighting grass nins. Unfortunately,  
his information on the Grass was rather limited. All he could muster was that  
they were at peace, though not in alliance, with Konoha, and he guessed that  
they were probably on bad terms with the sound, seeing that Orochimaru  
slaughtered a grass genin team during the chuunin exam. And also, seeing that  
the Grass Village was placed directly between Leaf and Sand, he guessed they  
would not want to be on bad terms with either of them. It would be a gamble,  
but probably worth the risk. Leaving what was possibly the worst ramen bar he  
had ever encountered, Naruto searched the town for a blacksmith, preferrably  
a...clandestine one. After roughly two hours, he finally found one in a  
backstreet alley. From the looks of it, this particular blacksmith was neither  
very reliable, nor were his goods of high quality, but that did not matter for  
Naruto's plan. So long as it looked right on first glance, it would work  
perfectly. Besides, the blacksmith would probably be eager for any commission  
he could get, and thus ask no uncomfortable questions.

Sure enough, an hour later Naruto walked away with a brand-new, slashed Sound  
hitai-ate in his posession. Another half an hour, and he had replaced his  
dirty orange jumpsuit with a less noticeable attire, as one would expect from  
a missing-nin on the run from the powerful Orochimaru. Black pants and shirt,  
grey vest, as well as a black facemask to hide the whisker marks, just in case  
someone had heard of them before.

* * *

He had put it off for as long as he dared, but he knew he'd eventually have to  
face it. Akatsuki was still after him, and as much as he hated to admit it,  
ever since his run-in with Itachi and Kisame, he knew he couldn't hold up a  
candle to them. Yet. He needed help, and now that he was all alone, there was  
only one he could ask for it.

Naruto found himself in the familiar sewer of his mindscape. It seemed even  
more decayed than the last time, days before the Sound/Sand invasion a month  
and a half ago. Not paying any attention to that, not _wanting_ to pay any  
attention to that, he made his way to the Cage. "Furball."

**"Child. I would ask what brings you here, but I already know. I hope you don't  
think I will be cheap."**

Naruto sighed. "Listen, stupid fox, I hold all the cards here. I die, you die.  
It's as simple as that. And unless I get what I came here for, I _will_ die.  
If you know what brought me here, you must also know that I'm not sure I care  
anymore."

The fox chuckled. **"You've got guts, child, I'll give you that. But don't lie  
to me, I know when you do. If you really didn't care, you would not be here.  
It seems your little...slip-up made you lose your wits as well as your glee.  
Surely you have a proposal that would benefit us both?"**

Naruto flinched when Kyuubi mentioned the 'slip-up'. "I didn't want that," he  
whispered. The fox sure knew how to put salt on a wound, but he had no time to  
beat himself up now. With great effort, he calmed himself down, and answered,  
in a stronger voice, "I don't know much about seals, so I don't have anything  
to offer just yet. Let me get this straight, I don't trust you. I will never  
unseal you and your powers together. However..." This was it, the moment of  
truth. "This may just be a wild idea, but hear me out. I am on my way to the  
Sand right now. Seeing Gaara, I don't know how well they know seals, but it's  
a hidden village nonetheless. I am willing to study seals there, and I hope to  
find a way to unseal your soul without your powers. You might have a body of  
your own in a few years." He paused. "We could make a trip to Snow Country. I  
hear the snow foxes become quite large."

The fox pondered this. Sure, it wouldn't be the same as before, but anything  
would be better than a cage in a smelly sewer, wouldn't it? He thought about  
the possibilities. True enough, the boy was in danger, and subsequently, so  
was he. He did not like it, but for now, there was little choice. He decided  
to throw the boy a little bone. For now.

**"Hmmm. It's tempting."** No, he _really_ didn't like this. **"Alright, kid. For the  
moment, my powers are yours. Be aware, if I am not satisfied with your  
progress, I _will_ reconsider."** The demon smirked. **"Know, however, that just  
_having_ my powers will not be enough against those you fear. Prove yourself to  
me, and I will show you how to use them."**

Naruto nodded, then took his leave. He was glad to get out - he was not sure  
how much of Kyuubi's mental abuse he could handle right now. The death of his  
surrogate brother, one-sided as that relation may have been, was still fresh  
on his mind, and the fox certainly knew how to play on his guilt.

* * *

Kyuubi wandered around in his cage for a while longer. He pondered the boy's  
proposal, and his previous exploits. Truth be told, Naruto had proven his  
worth long ago. No ordinary human, and not even most of the lesser demons,  
could withstand the abuse he had endured and come out reasonably sane, and  
defeating Shukaku, even sealed, with as little power as he had chosen to give  
him, was no small feat. The only problem was that his personality was  
not...demonic enough. Kyuubi smirked once more. In time, that might be changed,  
courtesy to the people of the Hidden Leaf. Maybe, just maybe, there was a good  
side to this damnable seal after all.

* * *

At the end of the next day, Naruto came close to the border between the  
countries of Grass and Wind. In fact, he was only a few hundred meters from  
Wind Country when he chanced upon a border patrol of Grass nins.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

...guess it was time to see if the bluff worked. Naruto raised his hands in a  
familiar handseal, summoning a kage bunshin to meet the patrol. "Yo." From the  
looks of it, the patrol consisted of a newly formed genin team. Three children  
around his age, two boys and a girl, and an older woman that seemed to carry a  
lot of experience, probably a Jounin. Naruto frowned. The genins he could  
handle...probably. He remembered that he himself was only a genin. A jounin,  
however...even with the deal he struck with the Kyuubi, he would rather not  
chance it.

The woman glared at him. Naruto's clone sighed. 'So much for the Grass being  
friendly to Sound missing-nins...' He composed himself. "Look, I don't want to  
cause you or your students any trouble. I'm on my way out of your country, so  
why don't you guys just forget I was here and nobody gets hurt?"

The woman's glare grew colder. "You're of the Sound. Kiku, Naoki, Takeshi,  
hide yourselves. I'll take care of this." Hearing no response, she turned  
around, to find her students bound by a kage bunshin each, with a kunai to  
the throat.

The original bunshin spoke again. "Calm down already. Sheesh, I said I don't  
want trouble. I can imagine you're angry at the sound, and" He pointed at his  
slashed hitai-ate, "so am I. Why do you think I ran away from that hell-hole?  
Now, lower your weapon, let me go, and as soon as I crossed the border, I'll  
release your students. No hard feelings, ok?" He smiled under the mask, and  
put a hand behind his head. "Look, I don't want to hurt them, but if you force  
my hand, I will. In the Sound, that would probably not hinder you, but I'm  
hoping that the Grass treats their shinobi better than that. Now, what do you  
say?"

Blue eyes pierced green ones for a minute, then the woman lowered her kunai.  
"Fine. You're free to go. But if you hurt them," her gaze turned steel, "I  
_will_ hunt you down!"

"No need to worry, I'm not exactly interested in making enemies of the Grass.  
They will be released in a few minutes." With that, the clone ran into the  
woods, to be dispelt soon after.

Naruto took a deep breath. 'Looks like I got out of this one.' He then resumed  
his way to Wind Country at top speed.

About 15 minutes later, the clones restraining the grass genins poofed out of  
existence. "Sayuri-sensei!" Sayuri just stood there, lost in her own thoughts.  
'Kage Bunshin? That's a leaf technique! How did he...' Her students pulled her  
out of it. "Sayuri-sensei? You spaced out there for a minute...is everything  
alright?" Kiku looked worried, so Sayuri composed herself. "Yeah, it's alright  
now. You guys aren't hurt, are you?" Kuki shook her head. It was evident the  
mysterious sound missing-nin gave them a good scare, though. 'Kage Bunshin,  
huh? Hell if I know what to make of this. Kusakage-sama will know.'

* * *

Shortly after the encounter, Naruto finally found himself on Wind territory.  
When he was about a mile from the border, he dispelt the clones, removed the  
fake hitai-ate, and made for the next town.

Sabakuhashi was, unsurprisingly, a small town just outside the desert  
surrounding Suna. Naruto peered at the seemingly endless dunes that lay  
between him and his destination. Suna truly was what its name implied - a  
village hidden in the sand. Lots and lots of sand. Naruto cursed under his  
breath, this would make reaching Suna all the more difficult. Going alone was  
out of the question, so he decided to scout the city for help.

* * *

Notes:

- I know that only the five large villages have Kages in Canon Naruto. That  
is, in a way, also true in this story. Here, most hidden villages pride  
themselves enough to call their leader Kage, even though the other countries  
may not acknowledge him as such. In essence, they behave like the Star  
Village from that particularily bad filler arc. This is decided on a village  
to village basis, though, so don't come crying if I introduce a modest  
village for a change, or one that doesn't have a supreme leader or...well,  
there are many possibilities, and I'm not sure which of them, if any, I will  
explore here.

- My Japanese is far from good, so I may be mistaken on some of the terms. If  
I am, please tell me so. Anyway, I will explain the terms I made up at the  
end of each chapter. So here we go:

- Sabakuhashi: End of the desert


	3. Departure

* * *

**DISOWNER: I don't claim Naruto.**

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Departure**

* * *

Tsunade rubbed her temples, but the headache wouldn't go away. 'Great. How am  
I going to explain this one?'

It was the day before their scheduled departure, and Tsunade spent most of it  
collecting clues about Naruto's exact lineage. The boy was a Kazama, that much  
was obvious. Not only was his appearance a dead giveaway, it was also clear to  
anyone who knew the Kazamas' unique traits that the Fourth would not have  
dared to use a child outside his clan for the seal. However, nobody knew just  
who his parents really were.

Not anymore, that is.

Tsunade stared at the Third's secret journal. It made sense that the Third  
would have known, she supposed, but it had been an enigma to her why he would  
keep it secret. Foolishly had she assumed that Naruto could have been spared  
his suffering had the village known his connection to the Fourth. Now that she  
knew, however, she understood.

She put the strongest seal she knew on the scroll and pocketed it. As she set  
out to pay a certain white-eyed clan a little night-time visit, there was only  
one thought on her mind.

_'The Hyuuga must never discover this.'_

* * *

Next morning, an upset young girl was seen just outside her home. To the  
casual observer she would have appeared deep in thought. In truth, that had  
become all but impossible to her.

The last three days, after she came back to part of her senses, had been  
Haruno Sakura's personal hell. Her former friends would not even talk to her  
anymore, and deep inside she agreed with them. Had she really done that to  
Naruto? She could not believe what a horrible person she had become. But her  
heart was torn to pieces when she realized Sasuke wouldn't ever come back, who  
could blame her, right? And Naruto was the one who...no, she knew she couldn't  
really blame him for that. The pain in his eyes was too obvious, though the  
hadn't thought about that then. But the baka could handle a little abuse,  
could't he? He had never complained in the past...

_"He wasn't half-dead then, was he?"_ Inner Sakura taunted. _"Look at you,  
little drama queen, acting as if you're the only one suffering. You disgust  
me."_

Sakura flinched. She knew her inner self was right, but she didn't want to  
accept it. It was times like these when she cursed her family for their  
independent subconcious minds - Inner Sakura spoke of the things she wanted  
to forget, told her what she wanted to deny, and explained what she wanted to  
misunderstand. There was, as the saying goes, no rest for the wicked, and this  
was all the more true for a Haruno.

_"You know what? I've lost all hope for you. Just do the world a favor and kill  
yourself."_

Unable to shut out the voice in her head, Sakura drifted further into the  
Abyss. What happened next should seal her fate.

* * *

"Alright," Jiraiya said, unfolding the map on the table, "if I know Naruto,  
he will seek out a friendly place to regroup and plan. Fortunately for us,"  
his sad tone betraying the meaning of the words, "there aren't too many of  
those for him. In fact, he has only ever been outside the village on three  
missions. Two of them were too hectic to make friends, so there's only one  
place he could go: Wave Country. He went there on his first C-Rank mission. I  
trust you know the details, Tsunade? Tsunade?"

The woman was thrown out of her daze. "What do you mean C-Rank? There's only  
one mission to the Wave in his file, and that's an A-Rank."

"That's the one. From what Naruto told me, their client lied about the real  
danger for lack of money. Seriously, I'd have ditched him the moment I  
noticed, but you know how headstrong he is...anyway, I think we..."

He was interrupted by a barely audible yelp from an incredibly pale former  
Hyuuga heiress. Conflicting emotions of worry and awe struggled for dominance  
over her expression, making it look akin to a child in a candy store who's just  
been handed a letter with the results of her diabetes examination.

"Na-Naruto-kun ha-has b-been on a-an A-A-A-Rank m-mission?" She nearly fainted  
from the thought. "B-b-but g-g-genin...N-Naruto-kun..." She knew it was  
foolish to be worry about him over a mission that happened so long ago, but  
she couldn't help herself.

Seeing her distress, Tsunade attempted to calm the girl. "It's alright,  
Hinata-san. Naruto is a lot tougher than people give him credit for. Don't you  
remember the Sound invasion? If he can beat Gaara into a pulp all by himself,  
a little A-Rank mission is nothing, right?"

But Hinata had already spaced out. Tsunade shrugged, then continued her  
conversation with Jiraiya. "So...the Wave, huh? Well, if we're lucky. He might  
even run into Shizune there, but..."

Jiraiya looked at her quizzically. "Shizune is in the Wave?"

Tsunade nodded. "I sent her and Kakashi there the day after Naruto and the  
others came back. They're building an outpost there to watch the Sound, since  
Orochimaru is now the greatest threat to us...to Konoha." She took a deep  
breath, wondering how long it would take her to drop the recently reacquired  
habit to refer to Konoha as 'us', then continued. "Anyway, I don't think he  
went there. Naruto may have played the idiot in Konoha, but he is smart enough  
to know..." She glanced at Hinata, not wanting to tell her the whole story  
just yet, "...he needs to be stronger." The look in Jiraiya's eyes told her he  
understood. "If he went to the Wave, his only source of power would be..._that_,  
and I highly doubt he wants to rely on it unless he has to. There's another  
place where he has a friend, one who shares his unique condition."

Jiraiya's eyes widened in understanding. "You can't mean..."

"Suna. He doesn't know he's a missing-nin, so he won't realize how dangerous  
it is. We have to move quickly, Jiraiya. If he's going there, we must find him  
before he arrives. If we're lucky, he went to the Wave, and perhaps even ran  
into Shizune there; but for once, I'm unwilling to gamble."

A quarter of an hour later, the two Sannin had settled on a plan. Seeing that  
Hinata was still spacing out, Tsunade shook her shoulder. "Hinata-san? Jeez,  
can you believe this girl, Jiraiya? And all that trouble over an old mission."  
Her gentle look, however, spoke otherwise. It was good to see someone other  
than herself or Jiraiya care, even if this girl took it to extremes.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Tsunade, Hinata was already deep in her own thoughts. Over the  
years, her admiration for _him_ had sunk into the very core of her personality.  
Before she knew it, she had become a voyeur, watching his life like a Nougaku  
play, striving to one day play a part in it. But only men had a place on the  
Nougaku stage, didn't they? And now he had grown so fast, too fast for her to  
ever catch up and lend him real assistance. In the end, she knew, she would  
have to resign herself to her place in the audience, always supporting him  
from the shadows, but nothing more. And yet...a desperate hope that this might  
not be so drove her to take part in this very endeavour. As long as she could  
only catch a glimpse of her beloved Naruto-kun again, she did not care how  
utterly foolish, even after the news her father broke to her the day before  
they left, it was. After all, her family had taught her time and time again  
how foolish and weak she was. By now, she was used to it, or so she kept  
telling herself.

The feeling of a hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality. "...ta-san?  
Jeez, can you believe this girl, Jiraiya? All that trouble over an old  
mission." The words felt like daggers driven into her heart. She had vowed to  
change, for his sake, and here she was, useless once more. The familiar feeling  
of despair threatened to envelop her again, but then she caught Tsunade's  
smile. "Ah, good you're back, Hinata. Alright, here's the plan: We've come up  
with two places Naruto's likely to go:" She pointed out two places on the map,  
"One, Wave Country. Two, the Hidden Sand Village. He's made a friend there,  
I'll tell you about it later. Jiraiya believes he's in the Wave, but I  
disagree, so we'll split up. And because there's no way I'll let you go with  
the pervert there," She ignored Jiraiya's dejected look and continued, "You're  
coming with me to the Wave."

Hinata looked puzzled, so Tsunade explained. "I can't go to Suna right now.  
Whoever the new Kazekage will be, it's highly probable that he will try to  
regain Konoha's favor. What do you think they would do if they caught a Hokage  
missing-nin and the heiress to the Hyuuga clan trespassing on their territory?  
Sending Jiraiya is risky enough, but it would be even riskier to let Naruto go  
there alone."

"It's a good thing, too," Jiraiya spoke up. "I have access to a vast  
information network, so I'll be fine alone, but Tsunade may need your Byakugan  
to track him when you get to the Wave. We're counting on you, got it?"

Hinata's face brightened. "H-Hai, Jiraiya-sama!"

The old man gloated, satisfied that _someone_ would finally pay him the proper  
respect. He thought for a moment, then bit his thumb, ran through a few  
handseals and slammed his hand to the ground. **"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"** In a cloud  
of smoke, the contract-holding toad appeared. "One more thing before we go.  
Ukegama, this is Hyuuga Hinata, Hinata, likewise. I trust you heard of  
summoning animals?" Hinata took a moment to decrease her heartbeat to a  
bearable rhythm, then nodded her head yes. "This is the same contract Naruto  
signed almost two months ago." He smirked inwardly, fully aware how unfair it  
was to bring this up. No way would she refuse now. "I'm giving you a choice,  
Hinata. Be aware that a summoning contract is a great responsibility, and the  
first you sign will also be the only one. The reason I bring this up is for  
communication." He ran through the seals again, this time summoning a  
considerably smaller toad.

"Yo." Gamakichi greeted. "Ah, Ero-Sennin! How've you been? Naruto says hi,  
although that was two weeks ago..." He looked around. "Tsunade-baba is here  
also?" He ignored the murderous glare Tsunade shot him and looked at Hinata.  
"Who's the pretty girl?"

Hinata instantly blushed like a tomato, and Jiraiya's grin nearly consumed his  
ears. "Hi Gamakichi. How's the old man doing?" He didn't wait for an answer.  
"This pretty young lady" - Hinata hit an even deeper shade of red - "is Hyuuga  
Hinata. She may be the next toad summoner."

"Hinata-chan? That's cool, Naruto said he liked her." Hinata fainted, and  
Gamakichi looked puzzled. "He also said she was a bit weird...I guess he knows  
her better than he thought he did. Will she be alright? Maybe she doesn't like  
toads..."

Jiraiya laughed heartily, not catching Tsunade's pained expression. "No, I  
don't think that's the problem. Anyway, I didn't call you out here to play."  
Suddenly sullen, he said: "Naruto has left Konoha, and not under the best of  
circumstances. Tsunade and I have abandoned the village to help him - you  
know about his enemies, and that he will need our help. Unfortunately, we  
don't know where he is, so I need yours."

Gamakichi understood. "You want me to be a messenger." Jiraiya nodded. "No  
sweat, Ero-Sennin. The kid saved my life, after all. He's a good friend. So,  
what do you want me to tell him?"

Jiraiya explained the plan, agreed with Gamakichi to summon him once a day to  
check for messages, and dismissed the toad. Half an hour later, Hinata woke up  
and signed the toad contract. Then they left, but not before Tsunade and  
Jiraiya activated their little 'surprise' for Konoha.

* * *

In various well-hidden places all over Konoha, jutsu scrolls were set off,  
throwing the town into disarray. The village and academy librares were burnt  
down by a great number of firetoads, while the Hokage library was devastated  
by slug acid. In the Hyuuga mansion, an elaborate genjutsu was dispelt,  
revealing empty shelves, and on the Haruno house, ten-feet letters spelling  
"UCHIHA WHORE" in a sickly green appeared.

When the news had gotten around, the remaining Rookie Six and Team Gai reacted  
in different ways. Those who took part in the Sasuke retrieval mission  
silently agreed that Konoha, and especially Sakura deserved a little payback,  
even though Rock Lee spent the rest of the day shouting that you SHOULD NOT  
TAKE THE FLAMES OF YOUTH SO LITERALLY!! Fortunately for them, Neji and Chouji  
were not expected to wake up for another week at least, so they didn't have to  
witness the disturbing spectacle.

Shino had only just returned from his mission, and was filled in on the story  
by his teacher, Yuuhi Kurenai. He did not break his stoic appearance, but his  
kikai bugs were in noticeable unrest for the remainder of the day.

Kiba, for once, was brooding in silence. It was a sight that slightly worried  
Shikamaru, but he was too lazy to do anything about it. For that matter, he  
was annoyed that he couldn't piece together the puzzle of Naruto's exile. He  
was stuck, and what's worse, with a feeling that the answer was just outside  
his grasp. What secret could Naruto possibly have that would cause the people  
of the village to try and lynch the hero that saved all their asses from a  
rampaging demon, and the council to exile him? The idea that Naruto caused the  
Uchiha to defect was ludicrous. Even _if_ Naruto had tried, the Uchiha was _way_  
too stubborn to listen to the 'dead-last'. They were hiding something, and  
he'd be damned if he didn't find out. Soon.

"Hey, Kiba?"

"Hm?" Kiba had been uncharacteristically quiet ever since he heard Tsunade,  
Jiraiya and Hinata left the village, presumably in pursuit of Naruto (The note  
they left on the Hokage's desk, telling the village, in rather graphic terms,  
to...um...make love to themselves was unambiguous). Shikamaru had a sneaking  
suspicion why that might be so, but if he was right, it would be too  
troublesome to bring it up.

"Nothing."

Tenten was devastated by Tsunade's departure. She had lost her role model, and  
did not know Naruto well enough to understand her reasons. Sure, the guy was  
powerful, and on occasion she noticed people treating him unfairly, but she  
didn't think much of it. After all, Naruto had been a troublemaker for many  
years, what did he expect? Surely, the council would not exile him without a  
good reason...right?

Ino was _furious_. She had just finished smashing the furniture in her room  
when her father came in to stop her from wreaking _more_ havoc around the  
house. Personally, she didn't care much about Naruto or Jiraiya, but Tsunade  
had been a shining example for all kunoichi of Konoha, and she had silently  
set her sight on Hinata as her next project. _'Yeah, right. We all saw how the  
last one turned out.'_ she thought to herself. The whole ordeal had tipped  
Sakura over the edge of insanity, and she had been admitted to the mental ward  
of the hospital earlier that day. Ino was just mad everything around her fell  
apart, so she needed to vent some steam. Once she calmed down, she would visit  
Chouji in the hospital, and then seek out Shikamaru. He might be a lazy bum,  
but a smart one, and she had found that talking to him solved a great many  
problems. Yes, she would let him sort it out, and things would look different  
afterwards.

* * *

Naruto, meanwhile, sat in his hotel room, bored. It was his second day in  
Sabakuhashi, and as far as he was concerned, it was just as bland as the  
endless nothingness that spread out behind it. To make matters worse, he was  
stuck here for another three days until the next caravan to Suna left. There  
wasn't even a ramen stand in this kami-forsaken town, for crying out loud!

All he had to keep him company was a small desert-fox he had picked up shortly  
after he arrived. For some reason...well, for obvious reasons, now that he  
thought about it, the normally shy, small creature appeared to be comfortable  
around him. He absent-mindedly stroked it between the ears and mused, 'The  
little fellow is nice, but I sure wish I had someone to talk to...wait a  
second!' He mentally slapped himself, why didn't he think of this sooner?

Three seconds later, Naruto was out of the door, leaving behind a dumbfounded  
fox. Five minutes later he had acquired some treats and was back in his hotel  
room, grinning at it. "Want some company, little buddy?" He went through the  
hand seals and said **"Kuchiyose no Jutsu,"** summoning Gamakichi. Or so he  
planned. Naruto felt himself slipping a bit, blaming the kitsune's powers, and  
wondering if the jutsu would work at all.

What he got, however, was _nothing_ like he expected.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

MUAHAHAHAHAHA! Cliffhanger no Jutsu!

Okaaay...since I had to rework the first three chapters, most of the author's  
notes that were here previously are now obsolete. Here's the gist of it:

- story is not classified as romance  
- Hinata would want Naruto, duh. But I cannot picture Naruto entering a  
relationship as he is now, so don't expect anything soon.  
- definitely no yaoi  
- will not write 'instant-uber-powerful-naruto' story  
- kitsune powers will be based on what I (think I) know about japanese lore on  
that topic  
- since I can't well expect everyone to know about said lore, I'll explain my  
reasoning behind parts that affect it in AN after the chapter it comes up in  
- Iruka doesn't strike me as missing-nin type, hence not tagging along

Now to the japanese terms. Not much in this chapter:

- Nougaku: A form of japanese theater, traditionally played by only male  
actors (in modern times, that doesn't exactly hold true, but in my  
Narutoverse it does). Nou plays typically concern mythology, and  
the main actor usually wears a mask.

- Ukegama: Made from ukeoi (contract) and gama (toad), ie "contract toad"


	4. Animals

**Temporary Author's note:**

I am a bit embarassed to report that the reviewer who asked about Shizune  
caught me. I _completely_ forgot about her. After some brainwrecking, I  
found the perfect way to weave her into the story (thank goodness someone  
spotted it so early, since leaving her out isn't exactly an option, eh?).  
Anyway, for this I read the first chapters again, and I spotted a minor  
inconsistency, and then a larger implausible thing, and then I got this idea  
that will be real cool in later chapters, promise, and one thing led to  
another, and that kinda led to me rewriting parts of the first three chapters,  
including a rather major point. Sorry for you guys who already read the first  
three chapters. If you don't want to read them all over again, the gist of the  
changes follows:

**DON'T READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO REREAD THE FIRST CHAPTERS INSTEAD!**

Okay, first of all, Sasuke was killed by Naruto in the Valley of the End. The  
reason for this is that it makes 1. Sakura turning on Naruto, 2. Naruto's  
exile and 3. Naruto's personality change much more plausible. Instead of  
fearing that Orochimaru will send Sasuke after Naruto for the Mangekyou, they  
now fear he may come after him out of spite, since he becomes rather vengeful  
when things don't go his way (I have the Sandaime-chooses-Arashi-over-  
Orochimaru-then-Orochimaru-comes-back-to-kill-his-sensei incident backing  
this).

Second of all, Tsunade dropped something about having sent Shizune and Kakashi  
to Wave Country to build an outpost near the Sound. For this, I claim that  
Wave country is the small island just east of Fire Country and south of Rice  
Field country (Look up "Naruto geography" on Wikipedia to see).

**YOU CAN RESUME READING HERE!**

This note will be removed when I post chapter 5, by which time I hope  
everybody who already read the first chapters has seen it.

That said, on with the story!

* * *

**DISOWNER: I don't claim Naruto.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Animals**

* * *

Jiraiya's plan was foolproof. Naruto summoned Gamakichi practically every  
other day, unless he was too busy, and with recent events, he would have both  
an overabundance of spare time and longing for company. It was only a matter  
of days until the message cycle would be established.

Unfortunately, foolproof plans have a tendency to fall apart in the presence  
of people other than complete and utter fools.

Jiraiya was a patient man, and not one easy to worry. Had he been, he couldn't  
possibly have endured teaching Kazama Arashi, much less Uzumaki Naruto, who  
resembled him so much. He was, however, just a little superstitious, and he  
had been seeing bad omens all over the place lately. He told himself that it  
was because of the tension recent events had built up in him, but when he  
summoned Gamakichi the day after splitting with Tsunade and Hinata, his fears  
were confirmed. In Gamakichi's place sat his slightly retarded, gluttonous  
little brother.

"If you want me to play with you, give me a snack." Gamatatsu said in a voice  
that didn't sound quite as cheerful as usual. If even he was affected,  
something was afoot. Prepared as ever, Jiraiya took a bag of various roasted  
insects laced with honey out of his pocket in an attempt to console Gamatatsu.  
"Thanks, Ero-sennin."

Pushing back the thought that Naruto had a bad influence on the toads if they  
started to treat _him_, the Great Toad Hermit Jiraiya-sama, with such blatant  
disrespect, the Sannin got down to business. "It's good to see you, Gamatatsu,  
but...I was hoping to speak with your brother. Where is he? We agreed to meet  
today."

He regretted his direct choice of words when Gamatatsu's face fell.  
"Gamakichi-nii-chan is sick. Nobody really knows what happened. He was  
summoned when we played yesterday, and when he came back, he...I don't know.  
He just fell and I couldn't wake him up. Ero-sennin, I...I have to go back,  
please? What if he's..."

Jiraiya just nodded and unsummoned Gamatatsu. He would have to summoned a more  
literate toad to get the details, but after what Gamatatsu told him, it didn't  
seem that he could get any useful information at all, and he didn't want to  
risk summoning a toad away from helping Gamabunta's son. That, and he needed  
time to think.

There was only one person besides him that could summon toads.

* * *

_The day before:_

The little desert fox cocked its head in confusion at the strange creature in  
front of it. Uncertain what to make of this, it walked over and sniffed. The  
creature smelt similar to a fox, but sure didn't look the part. The fox  
blinked, then gave a questioning look to its human friend.

What Naruto saw when the smoke settled was unexpected. No, scrap that. It was  
downright freaky. It was...sort of...toad...ish. It would have qualified as a  
toad, only toads normally didn't have fur, as far as he could tell. Nor a  
fluffy tail. It also looked vaguely familiar. He eyed the, uh, whatever it  
was, from all sides, but try as he might, he did not recognize the animal. How  
was he supposed to know _zoology_?

Just as a strained expression began to spread over Naruto's face, the fox-toad  
chose to speak, greatly startling him. "I know you...I think. Namazu? No,  
that's not quite right. Um...I can't remember. This is weird." It raised a  
paw...hand...paw-hand to the back of its head. "Could you tell me your name?"

"I'm Naruto." He took a closer look. "Wait...Gamakichi? Why do you look like  
this?"

"I'm Gamakichi? Er, right, right, or, erm, not. I'm not sure, it feels kinda  
right and kinda wrong. All I know is I was just playing with my brother...or  
was I hunting with my uncle? This is confusing..." The fox-toad blinked. "Do  
you mind releasing me? I think I have some things to figure out here..."

"Uh, sure. Sorry, little guy. I hope this works out." Naruto sent his most  
puzzling summon ever back to its plane, slumped on his bedand crawled the  
small desert fox behind the ears. Half to himself he said, "well, he's not the  
only one who has a riddle to solve. Mind to tell me your thoughts?"

Predictably, he got no answer; the fox just curled up in his lap and went to  
sleep. 'Maybe you have the right idea there.' Naruto thought, and decided to  
hit the sheets early today. A certain furball had _a lot_ of explaining to do.

* * *

On Tsunade's end, things didn't look much better. Granted, Hinata did have a  
better start at summoning than Naruto, if Jiraiya's stories about days and  
days of tadpoles were any indication, but she apparently could not muster  
enough chakra to summon even the smallest of talking toads. This in itself  
would not have been all that much of a problem, but in Hinata's case, the  
cause of it would be difficult to overcome.

Simply put, chakra is a mixture of physical and spiritual energy. Hinata, much  
to Tsunade's initial surprise, did not lack in the physical department. She  
wanted to prove herself, and therefore her drive in training almost rivaled  
that of Rock Lee. Well...maybe she was exaggerating a bit there, but Hinata's  
dedication did remind her of the green-clad taijutsu specialist. Every day,  
when Tsunade already called it one, Hinata would spend at least an hour  
beating up helpless trees, and performing elaborate chakra exercises the likes  
of which even Tsunade could not easily do. However, while Hinata always  
started well, it would only take a short time for her to falter. Her punches  
would become weak, and her chakra would go out of control. She knew how, and  
she was able, but something was holding her back.

No, her problem was not physical energy, it was her spirit that lacked. Had  
Tsunade not cursed the Hyuuga name before, she would have started now. Hiashi  
had done a thorough job of breaking his daughter, and the only person she  
could think of who might stand even a remote chance of mending that was the  
very boy they were looking for.

...which posed a completely different problem. Should she tell her? How would  
she take the information? Not well, duh. Even though the bastard hadn't  
treated her like family, she was still Hiashi's daughter. Her infatuation with  
her loud-mouth brother was in plain sight, but that could make this all the  
more difficult. Depending on her reaction, this could either solve a whole lot  
of problems for both Hinata and Naruto, or it could deal a finishing blow to  
both their already fragile psyches. Tsunade cursed under her breath. If only  
she had found out before telling Hinata to come, then she wouldn't have  
brought her along. But backing down was not an option, or the secret would  
have come out right away.

In a gesture that had become more and more natural to her during the last few  
days, Tsunade massaged her temples to relieve the headache. In order to save  
what remained of her sanity, she decided to leave Hinata in the dark for now.  
Contemplating what she could do to bring the former Hyuuga heiress out of her  
shell, she joined her student.

Tsunade was no Naruto, but she would have to do.

* * *

Naruto gulped. Today was the day, and he could only pray nothing would go  
wrong. Because if it did, chances were it would go _horribly_ wrong. Two  
nights ago, he had spoken to the Kyuubi - he would have to find a way to talk  
to him outside his sleep - about the summoning incident. As it turned out,  
the demon fox had no experience with summons whatsoever. Demons didn't dabble  
in human ninjutsu, and while some demons called upon their kin in fights, it  
wasn't something kitsune usually did. It might be possible, but Kyuubi never  
felt the need to summon aid from creatures weaker than him.

After some guesswork that effectively didn't lead anywhere, they came to the  
conclusion that it had to be related to Kyuubi allowing Naruto free reign over  
his powers, so they decided that Kyuubi would hold it back like he had done  
before, and giving whatever effects it had a day to disperse. Then, Naruto  
would summon Gamabunta for answers. That was today.

Because of all that, and the uncertainity of his friend Gamakichi's fate,  
Naruto felt vulnerable and agitated. Not to mention that Gamabunta would not  
likely be in a good mood if something had happened to his son, or worse, if  
the same mistake happened again. 'No use dragging it out, is there?.'

**"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"**

Well, the first part, at least, succeeded. Before Naruto stood Gamabunta, in  
all his glory. The look on his face, however, did not bode well.

**"Oi, gaki! Give me one reason why I shouldn't burn your contract and kill  
you where you stand! What have you done to my son?!"**

'Damn. Damn, damn, damn.' Or so Naruto would have thought, had he not been too  
shocked by Gamabunta's imposing appearance, and too worried about Gamakichi.  
As it was, he found it hard to form a coherent thought, and instead of an  
answer, he only opened and shut his mouth in a fish-like manner.

Gamabunta's eyes narrowed. **"So it was you. Explain, and depending on how  
helpful you are, I will decide what to do with you."**

Naruto took a few deep breaths to calm down - not an easy task when a _very_  
angry Toad King is questioning you. Somehow, he managed enough to talk, and  
retold, albeit in a shaky manner, the events that took place two days prior.  
After that, Gamabunta calmed down a little bit. Oh, he was still angry, but at  
least he didn't want to rip Naruto apart anymore. At least, not instantly. His  
furious expression was replaced with a thoughtful one.

**"At least we can heal Gamakichi now. Listen, brat, there has not been a dual  
summoner since the very first contracts eons ago, for reasons you should now  
understand. It shouldn't be possible anymore, because we made the contracts so  
that they reject anyone who can already summon. Why the contract accepted you,  
I can only guess. Most likely, you only gained the ability to summon foxes  
when Kyuubi submitted to your control, but I cannot say for sure."** Gamabunta  
took a deep drag from his pipe and exhaled. **"You will refrain from summoning  
until I spoke with the Kitsune. If you try to summon a toad, I will answer the  
call myself and make sure you never do it again, do I make myself clear?"**

Naruto nodded furiously.

**"Good. I will alert Jiraiya when the talks are over. I will alert Jiraiya  
when the talks are over, and send him to the Sand, so make sure you don't move  
around too much."**

With that, Gamabunta left, leaving a relieved Naruto behind. He would live to  
see another day after all, and Gamakichi would be fine. Of all the ways this  
could have ended, this wasn't so bad.

* * *

Gamabunta's thoughts were different. Why did that damn brat have to be so  
_likeable_? He should have torn him apart, and scattered his remains all over  
the continent. But he couldn't. The brat was...too much like _him_. 'No time for  
that now.'

Even though Gamabunta had confidently stated he could heal Gamakichi now, he  
was worried. The records of that time were scarce at best, non-existent at  
worst, and while they mentioned a cure for his son's predicament, there was,  
after several millenia, no clue how well it would actually work. To make  
matters worse, there was no telling how the kitsune would act. Did they even  
know what happened? Did they know that, and how, it involved the toads? Ever  
since he himself had helped to seal the Kyuubi inside Naruto, toads and  
kitsune weren't exactly on friendly terms. If this played out wrong, it could  
mean war with one of the most powerful clans in Makai, and he would not, could  
not, allow that to happen, lest the toads be annihilated.

Should war break out, he knew, the situation would be dire. The only reliable  
allies the toads had were the slugs, through Jiraiya and Tsunade, and they,  
while a large clan, were healers not cut out for war. Perhaps the tanuki could  
be persuaded to help, because of their one-sided rivalry with the kitsune, but  
they weren't all that powerful. All three together might stand a fighting  
chance against the kitsune, but to make matters worse, the toads' specialty,  
fire attacks, did not work well against the foxes, _and_ the snakes would  
jump at an opportunity to get back at the toads, even if their "allies" would  
look down on them. No, war had to be avoided at all costs, and if the cost was  
to be his pride, well, then so be it.

After a talk with the medics that treated Gamakichi, Gamabunta sent a messenger  
to the slugs, just in case, and set out to what could become the most difficult  
diplomatic mission of his long life.

* * *

**Authors Notes:**

- Namazu: Catfish (since Naruto means fishcake, it would be possible to  
confuse the two. Well, for a merger between a toad and a fox that has to  
make sense of what it even is, anyway) - Makai: Demon Plane.


End file.
